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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27187450">Never just the one time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Senza21/pseuds/Senza21'>Senza21</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 03:49:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27187450</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Senza21/pseuds/Senza21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Katara and aang didnt know what to do when they saw him there but they they knew they needed.<br/>But looking over his injuries who could have hurt zuko like this?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Iroh &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Jee &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Jee &amp; Zuko's Crew (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Zuko &amp; Zuko's Crew (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>92</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The storm part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Katara looked at the cave entrance worriedly, it was getting late and sokka had not returned there sky started to darken and thunderous clouds began to roll over the sky. Returning to the fire she felt aangs hand on her shoulder and felt a little more relaxed "hes gonna be alright katara its sokka hes a always come back just his boomerang" sighing somewhat more calm "yeah but those clouds still worry me". Katara was about to say more when they heard a noise from the cave entrance and saw a figure standing in the entrance way before collapsing, katara and aang ran fast to help but stopped when they saw who it was.</p><p>"Zuko?"</p><p>Katara and aang noticed right away the baggage on zuko he had two bags strapped to him and a pair of duel broadswords on his back but most importantly he looked horrible. Zuko looked horrible he was covered in bruises and cuts, he was shaking and holding himself not even acknowledging katara and aang. Aang could tell his breathing was irregular and erratic just from how he looked he looked to katara confused on what to do as she was.</p><p>"Katara we have to help him" "I know but after everything hes done I cabt help feeling a little hesitant" they stared at before he started a violent coughing fit noticing slight blood on his lip. Both know what they had to do.</p><p>"We have to help him" they said together </p><p>Rushing over they grabbed his arms causing him to start freaking out. "Nononono pplease dont hurt me I-I please I'll go just dont hurt me" he practically sobbed. Hearing this broke their hearts who hurt him so bad hes usually so strong. "Zuko its us I promise we won't hurt you just let us help you you're hurt" zuko looked up finally acknowledging katara "watertribe girl? Why are you-" "you're hurt we can take later let us help you" getting him to his feet they walked him to appa "no! You're gonna feed me to it" yelled zuko as he started to fight aang quickly piped up "no zuko appa doesn't eat people he only eats fruits and hey and stuff" that seemed to calmed zuko.</p><p>Finally getting to appa they laid zuko on him and removed his gear aang immediately rushed to zukos side while katara got medical supplies. "Zuko who did this to you" zukos shuffled into appa not wanting to talk "zuko it's ok we'll help you no one will hurt you here" katara arrived with the medical supplies "zuko I need to assess your injuries tell me where they hurt you" zuko curled up more before saying "everywhere it hurts everywhere, they hurt me they beat me up" "who?" Aang asked as he gently held zuko from behind "some of my crew members they were mad at me I cant go back it will never end it will happen over and over again I cant I cant! They say it's the one time but that's a lie it's never the last time" He said panicky while the two started in horror.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The storm part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>'His crew did this? What happened to make them this mad' katara thought as she as gently as she could applied the ointment. Aang was supporting zuko helping keep him still "zuko please tell us what happened" zuko looked away " its ok you're safe here we would hurt you" zuko sighed deeply "ok but please dont judge me</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi guys sorry for the wait I work retail so updating will be really random lol it took me all day to write this its a bit of a long chapter for today I'll try to moderate the later chapter size if I can</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Katara and aang couldn't believe what they heard, aang immediately moved to comfort by laying at his side and hugged him lightly. Katara began to prepare the medicine for zuko.</p><p>"Zuko I need to see your wound I'll need you to take your shirt off" zuko stuffed hearing that but slowly move to take his shirt, seeing him flinch aang helped removed the shirt. What they saw horrible them even more.</p><p>Zuko was covered in bruises so had they were black and blue and both could tell it would last a long while, the bruises went all over his torso and covered most of his back his arms were covered too. There were cuts all over as if someone stomped on him many times. Katara knew this was going to be difficult for zuko "zuko I'm going to apply the medicine now its gonna sting so please bear with me" zuko nodded but when katara began applying the cream to his wound he jerked forwards grabbed aang hand, aang rubbed zukos hand saying calming words to get him to lay down.</p><p>'His crew did this? What happened to make them this mad' katara thought as she as gently as she could applied the ointment. Aang was supporting zuko helping keep him still "zuko please tell us what happened" zuko looked away " its ok you're safe here we would hurt you" zuko sighed deeply "ok but please dont judge me</p><p>                                       -flashback- </p><p>While meditating zuko his and irohs conversation 'consider the safety of the crew' 'the safety of the crew doesn't matter' 'finding the avatar is more important than any individuals safety'. Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose "uncle's right I should go change the course" and left for the helm but before he could get there he was suddenly pulled into a room.</p><p>There was at least 10 men in the room all looked angry at zuko, "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS" one man tall and fairly buff approached zuko presumably the leader of this mutiny "so our safety isn't important?" Zuko eyes widen in fear 'damn news travels too fast' he turned seeing a man blocking the door. Straightening himself "listen I'll deal with it soon-" zuko was cut off with a punch to the gut nearly knocking him to his knees as the man zhang he thought is the man's name spoke "I'm dealing with it now!" He yelled zuko looked at the man only to be punched in the face and knocked over. </p><p>In a instant all the men began to beat he felt hits and stomps everywhere he tried to fight or use his bend but each time they stopped him, "dont even try it brat! You deserve this!" They yelled as they continued their onslaught on the poor boy. After what felt like forever a yell "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING" they all looked and saw jee staring at them in horror before rushing to zuko cradling him in his arms. </p><p>"ALL OF YOU TO THE BRIG NOW!" </p><p>The men rushed out of the room knowing better than to face jee wrath. Holding zuko tight he rushed him to zukos room laying him on his bed he removed zukos armor leaving him in his under clothes. "Dont worry I'll get the doctor he'll be here soon just relax" jee said trying to evaluate zuko wounds "I'm so sorry this happened some were mad about what you said but I didnt think they would do this" zuko didnt say much due to the pain he just wanted to all to end it hurted so much, "just rest for now and please dont tell iroh about this I'll handle it, this will just be the one time I swear" </p><p>As if all at once memories poured into zuko, all the pain all the torment all the false promises of it 'being the last time' looking up he realized jee had left 'it's never just the one time, it's just the beginning' zuko thought knowing what he had to.</p><p>Dispite the pain he got up and pack his things grabbing his swords, whatever money he had, clothes and his dagger iroh gave him years ago. He snuck to the kitchen and snagged food before getting to his skiff and quickly left the ship as he got away he heard a loud siren come from the ship 'damn they know I'm gone' driving his skiff as fast as he could he made his way to the main land. </p><p>After landing he abandoned the skiff an rushed through the town no wanting to be discovered making his way up the nearby mountain to get out of the sudden storm 'uncle was right' he made it to a cave entrance and collapsed only to be found by the avatar and his friend.</p><p>                                              -Flashback-</p><p>Katara had finished applying the ointment and wrapped his wounds when she finally spoke "zuko you didnt deserve that you changed your mind and was going to right your mistake they should listened". "Yeah" aang chimed in "violence should never be a first reaction to anger not even a last resort" zuko sat up feeling better thank to katara "you're not mad I dismissed the crews safety?" "It was reckless but you tried to fix it" katara said as she put away the medical supplies.</p><p>"zuko I wanted to ask you what you meant when you said 'it's never just the one time it's just the beginning what happened to make you believe that?" Aang asked helping zuko out his shirt back on, zuko froze before saying "growing up I became used to being hurt by people around me be it teachers, tutors, servants, counsel members, or military figures for what reason they wanted, they always told me not to tell my uncle or anyone and I deserved it they would say it was one time or they didn't mean to but I was just the beginning of the abuse I would suffer.</p><p>Aang and katara were even more horrified "how could they justify hurting a child" "I was weak and my father despite being firelord made many enemies who took it out on me, I tried to become stronger do they would leave me alone but that just led to my biggest mistake" zuko said pensively as he gently touched his scar before saying "no I'm not ready to tell that story yet" </p><p>Both nodded in understandings before moving to gently hug zuko, zuko was shocked at the kindness but let it happen "so what are gonna do now" aang asked concerned for zuko "I don't know I cant go back to the ship" "why dont you join is then" aang asked excitedly "what!?" Both katara and zuko yelled "think about it you have nowhere to go right now, its dangerous to be on your own  and we can totally use a firebender around here" zuko and katara blinked shocked at the avatars idea "what about the whole I'm hunting you down to please my father and restore my honor" zuko said finally speaking up "the monks taught me to let go of the past and look to the future which is what you should do, besides this way we can finally become friends" </p><p>"Aangs right zuko"</p><p>Zuko looked to katara surprised 'is she not mad about the necklace or the pirates incident?' "Its not safe for you due to the war and this way you can work to make amends for the past" she said slightly snarky at the end "and I think it will be best for you to be away from that abuse and start anew and we can help you"</p><p>"Making amends huh" zuko reached into his bag "I guess this would be a good way to start" he said holding up katara necklace which she grabbed happily "you still have it oh thank la and tui I thought it was gone for good" she quickly began to put it on "you kept it?" "It felt wrong to get rid of and I kinda added a clasp so it doesn't fall off again" katara felt the clasp on the necklace "why?" She asked "I was hoping to convince you to hand over the avatar when I had the chance again uhh sorry" he said sheepishly. The two laughed "your forgiven as long as you dont try to hand aang over to the firenation which by the way is kinda a requirement for the group" "I guess I can handle that for now" zuko said joining in the laughter.</p><p>'Maybe I can actually be happy here, maybe I could actually have friends' he thought as a voice rang at the entrance of the cave.</p><p>"Help, help" they all looked to see an elderly woman katara and aang recognized as the fisherman's wife the two rose to help knowing something had happened.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So this is my first attempt at a avatar story please comment any mistakes below and I hope you guys like this<br/>Tags might change as time goes on</p></blockquote></div></div>
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